Philly mayor: Trayvon's death 'assassination'

Justice probe seeks to determine whether 'hate crime' committed

Published: 03/26/2012 at 1:01 PM

(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) — As Philadelphia prepares for another demonstration over the shooting death in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Mayor Nutter on Sunday called the killing an “assassination.”

Nutter also joined the increasing calls for the arrest of 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who fatally shot the unarmed Martin in February.

Nutter delivered his comments on MSNBC a day before the one-month anniversary of the shooting, which will be marked Monday night with a candlelight vigil in LOVE Park, the latest in a series of demonstrations in various U.S. cities.